“Mega-Hope” for the Raiders

Optimism is at an all time high for these Raiders

Remember when Snoop Dogg was roaming the sidelines at USC games in the mid-2000’s? Did you know that James Harden recently attended a game which featured one of Lavar Ball’s sons playing for Chino Hills? Talented sports teams attract high profile visitors at times. This is precisely why Calvin Johnson, a.k.a. Megatron, recently visited the Oakland Raiders’ OTA’s. Hope, is in the air.

It wasn’t that long ago that you couldn’t pay a player enough money to play for the Raiders. Now, a former NFL legend is showing up just to watch. In fact, it also wasn’t that long ago that the Raiders had one of the worst rosters in all of football. Now, they are looking to be one of the most talented teams, #4 on a recent list, at least on paper anyway.

A big reason Megatron showed up was due to his relationship with current Raiders offensive coordinator Todd Downing, with whom he worked with in Detroit. However, the relationship is not the only reason Megatron showed up to practice. Many coaches have relationships with former players. That doesn’t mean the players show up to former coach’s practices with new teams. This was something different. This had a different vibe to it.

The Raiders won’t be signing Megatron anytime soon. Megatron won’t be un-retiring anytime soon. That doesn’t diminish the hope Megatron brought to the practice as he observed the Raiders’ players.

The Raiders’ roster is loaded and the hype for the team is everywhere. The hope for the Raiders is at historic levels right now, which begs the question, will the Raiders finish what they started last year? Time will tell but for now, it’s pretty dang fun being a Raiders fan!

For more information

Check out Episode #30 of Raiders Fan Radio podcast. We discussed this topic at length along with other topics and an interview with Ted Nguyen from Raidersanalysis.com.